Career Stages

This section is mostly relevant to statisticians, where in general a postgraduate degree in statistics is needed for a career in the pharmaceutical industry. Here is a link to a section What
Qualifications are Required for a Pharmacutical Statistician or Medical Statistician on the RSS website. For statistical programmers an undergraduate degree is normally required, typically in a numerate field, although many programmers also have a background in life sciences or other disciplines.

SCHOOL

The Royal Statistical Society (RSS) website contains advice for those of school age (11-16) who are considering a career in statistics. This includes answers to the questions “What is statistics?”, “What do statisticians do?”, “How do I develop my statistics knowledge at school?” and “What are the next steps?”. Click here for the link.

In addition, there are a number of booklets, leaflets, posters and workshop materials available in the Resources section.

UNDERGRADUATE

The Royal Statistical Society (RSS) website contains advice on what types of undergraduate degree course are available, how to find a course, what to expect from a course, and other topics such as funding. Click here for the link.

You can search for university courses in Mathematics and Statistics, via the UCAS website.

Many undergraduate courses include a 12 month placement at a pharmaceutical company or CRO. This can be a great way for you to decide whether or not this is the right career for you. Ask your lecturer or careers adviser for more information. The PSI holds an annual competition for students to write an account of their placement year, and the most recent winners are shown below:

CAREER CHANGE

For those already working in another career field, or returning to employment, an option is to study as a “mature student”. The Royal Statistical Society (RSS) website provides general advice including options for full time and part time working, and other topics such as funding. Click here for link.

Future Events

This course will focus on the principles underlying multiple comparison procedures and their applications to confirmatory clinical trials. We will describe simple ways to construct valid multiple tests, and will explore how tests can be incorporated into recycling strategies.